Parents of the four persons detained for their alleged involvement in Malegaon and Modasa blasts claimed that they were innocent, reports P Naveen.

Parents of the four persons detained for their alleged involvement in Malegaon and Modasa blasts claimed on Saturday that they were innocent and the vehicles used for planting bombs were stolen by unknown people prior to the blasts.

The MP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) detained the four — Shyamlal Sahu, Dilip Nahar, Shivnarayan and Dharmendra Bairagi — from Indore and Dewas on the basis of revelations and call details of Sadhvi Pragya Singh, the owner of the motorcycle used in the Malegaon blast.

Five persons lost their lives when bombs planted on the motorcycles went off at Malegaon and Modasa in September.

Denying his brother’s involvement in the incident, Mohan Sahu, elder brother of the accused Shyamlal Sahu, said: “His (Shyamlal) bike was stolen when it was parked outside his mobile shop on May 28, 2006.”

He claimed a theft report was lodged with the Tukoganj police station on the same day. “Who knows how his motorcycle found its way to the blast site?” added Mohan Sahu.

Mohan said the police and the ATS were not telling them the specific reasons behind Shyamlal’s arrest.

The family members of Dilip Nahar, another accused in the blasts, too claimed that his vehicle was stolen. “My son’s bike was stolen around 18 months ago. How is he involved then?” said Dilip’s father Ramesh Nagar.

Admitting that Dilip was a close friend of Shivnarayan, who has also been arrested in connection with the blasts, Ramesh said: “Even Shivnarayan’s bike was stolen from Palasia area two years ago, around the same time that of Dilip.”

“The stolen vehicle has not been recovered yet. Why should he be held responsible in case his stolen bike has been used for the blasts?” said a relative of Shivnarayan, pleading anonymity.

In the Malegaon and Modasa blasts, the bombs were placed on motorcycles with stickers sporting 786 and a crescent on its seat.

Police say it was only because of the sticker that they started probing the possibility of Muslims not being involved in the blasts.